After their threat of laying siege to his house here, Congress MP Navin Jindal today attended a khap mahapanchayat (caste council) here and assured them that he would carry their message to the party high command and Haryana government.
Addressing the Sarvjatiya Sarvkhap Mahapanchayat, about 120 km from Chandigarh, Jindal, an industrialist and MP from Kurukshetra, said he would vigorously take up the issues raised by khap panchayats and their sentiments with the Congress high command and also with the B S Hooda government.
His assurance came after the Khap Mahapanchayat handed over a memorandum to him listing their demands at the khap here today.
Jindal had yesterday sent a letter to representatives of khaps, acknowledging their "yoeman" service rendered to society.
"As your elected representative, I will carry forward your message. It is my duty to raise your concerns," he said and sought blessings from khap elders, saying he was like their child and they were always welcome in his home.
The khaps in Haryana, which have hit headlines for their diktats prohibiting same 'gotra' (clan) marriages, have already got support from Jindal who again today praised them for rendering "yeoman" services to society and acknowledged their existence for hundreds of years.
He said he respected khaps and he had come today on their invitation.
Khap panchayats had at a meeting at Pai near here on May 2 put all elected representatives in the state on a one-month notice to support their demand for amending the Hindu Marriage Act seeking a ban on same gotra marriages.
They had also threatened to lay a siege of Jindal's house in Kurukshetra today in case he did not extend support to their demand.
"I and my family have always respected the society's traditions, customs, beliefs and culture," Jindal said, extending full support to the Khaps within the ambit of the law of the land.
Jindal also asked the Khaps to vigorously fight evils like female foeticide and dowry.
The ruling Congress MP's letter to the Khaps yesterday had come at a time when opposition INLD favoured the demand to amend the law and ban marriages in same gotra and villages.
With municipal polls due to be held on May 20 and panchayat polls also coming up after that, both ruling Congress and opposition INLD cannot afford to annoy Jat votes.
Caste panchayats in Haryana have launched a campaign against same gotra weddings after a Karnal court had on March 30 awarded death penalty to five persons and sentenced two others, including a Khap leader, to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of a couple who had married despite
having a common lineage.
